DOMESTIC'S DEATH

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 163, 28 July 1937, Page 10

DOMESTIC'S DEATH

Gas Poisoning from Caliphont in BathroOiti INSPEGf ION URGED A strong lecommOndatioii that a periodicai inspectfoii of ga& caiiphonts should be undertakeii, Was madei by the coroner, Mr J. Miller, S.M., at an inqttegt yesterday into the death of Joan Kane, a Napier doffifestie, who was f duhd dead in the bathfoom of her exnployers' hoitte ovl the evehing of Juiy Vt. A verdict Was returnfed that death WaS the resttlt of aecidentally in- ! haling carboh mohoxide diScharged into the bathrooin from a gas daliphont with no flue pipe. Sergeant g.- fi Bonisch conducted the enqliiry. Hot Water in the hotise whs supplied itt the main from a- coal stbvfe, said Mrs H. C. SprOttle, the deceased:s employer, hui# th'efe was also a gas Caliphont in the bathroom. The deceased, who had been employed since the beginning of February, slept on the premiSes. She was very SwOet-natured, of a stmny disposition, and , tery willing about her work. She had never shoWn any sign of WOrry. On the night of the fatality Witness used th© hot water service from the stove fof her bath, and suggested that the girl use the ealiphairt. Shortly after nine o'Olock she saw the deceased go into the bathrooin with a box of matcheis. The caliphoiit had been in use for months, ahd usually deceased obtained the hot water fof household purposes from the caliphont, and had also tised it before for bathing. it "was tisual for the top sash of the window to be down wheli the caliphont was in use, but on the day of the girl's death the window was closed because of raiii# This was the only occasion, to witness's knowledge, that th© caiiphoiit had been used with the window closed. While the caliphont was operating, a smell of gas co-uld be de= tected by anyone passing the doOr of window, but it was not noticeable within the room. Witness Had, not thought that the smeil might be danj gercus. When her husband camo home, aftef 10.30 p#m., he informed. hef that the maid had fainted in the bathrobm# He returned and said that he could not rotise hef, ahd witness told bim to call Dr Gilray, who found that she . was dead# Tho bath was still full of water, and deceased' s olothes .wero on the iloor, but there was no odour in the ropm. and it Was quite clear of steam# Evidence of Diacovery# Henry Cotton Sproule, of Napier, solicitor, said that on July 17 he retufned to his home .at aboiit 10.30 p#rUvand saw, as he went to the room that ; the , bathroom light was on. He called out to ask if the . maid was going to chufch /with Him the following ihorhing and received no reply. He thought that the light had been forgotten in thb' bathroom and opened the doox. • Deceased was lying alongside the door, with her face on the floor, appearing as if, she had just come out of the bath. He thought she had fainted, and car* ried her to her bedroom. He then tele* phoned for the doetor. In the bathroom the window was sbut, and the caliphont turned off. The bath towel was wet and appeared to have been used. There was steam in the room, but no smell. The caliphont was quite effective, but the top; had previously been blown ofl?, disconnecting the exhaust pipe from the caliphont, leaving a gap of about 12 inches. Tt had been in such a condition for some months. Scientiflc Bvidence. Wilfred Brathby Stewart, science master at the Napier Boys' High; School, sgid that coal gas cont&ined about 14 per cent. of carbon monojcide, and was usually mixed with water gas, containing about 50 per cent. This was the mixture usually sold by the gas companies. The flrst incomplete Stage of combustion was brought about in a misture of air, and more air was tised in the seCond stage# The flrst stage produced a misture containing carbbn monoxide, which was changed in the second stage to carbon dioxide. If the gases passed rapidly thTOugh the flame, if the snpply of air was limited, or if the flame was eooled, some carbon monoxide escaped with the products of the combustion, it being a matter of difficulty to obtain complete combustion. In a caliphont the flame was in contact with a Copper vessel of water that could not be raised above 100 degrees, but the temperatures of the flame were for the ihner flame 300 degrees and for the Outer 1500. Witness would therefore expect catbon. monoxide to bo produced Owiilg td the Cooling of the flamei The makers of caliphonts recognised the danger and witness produced the

plate from the caliphont warning users tb see that an . escape , vent for gases was connected. . The ; dangef would be xncf eased if ."the room Were Inventilated, and ihe .pre'sence of the gas wbhld give no' warning eitfier by taste of smell. * v Cfharles Herbert Bidkerstafif, of Napier, , gas fitter^ sdid- that the ' bath-. reo&t was 10 feet six inches iong, by six feet wide, and- nine feet high. The caliphont did not have the flue pipe connected, and seemed to have been so for a considerable period. The caliphont was an early modei, and bore the Warning mentioned by the previous witness# No tinburnt gas was able to> escape, and apart f fOm the Vent pipe, the caliphont was in good order. The coroner": Would it not be better to make an inspCCtion of all the caliphonts? WitnCss j I thihM it WCuld# We've had twb of three of these happenihgs lately. i Doctet's EvddehcCi Dr.- G# E# Waterwo'fth gave evidence of a post-mortem on the deceased. A cOlouring characteriStie' of. coal gas poisoning waS Shown iii parts of the flesh, ahd the muscles and organs. The right Side of the heart was distended as is usual in death from asphyxiation. Death was appavently due ,to carbon; monoxide poisoning. There was no smell 0f gas about the body. An analysis of th© blood showed it to. contain; carbon monoxide to the extent of 64 per cent saturation. "There are sooie sad circumstances in this case," said the coroner, "and the court ©xtends its sympathy to the parents and also to the . empldyers. There is no blame attachable to anyone; it WaS Ohe of thOSe fiCCidChts that OCcur hOw and hgaih. The' caliphont; was ih#ofd©r eXcept that the flue pipe was misSing. AltliOugh there is a hotice oit the caliphont peinting out; the " dafiger, the., extra dangef ■ is not ; recognised. Althougli the Caliphont hasbeen used niany times with this defect, it iii 6ne iiist&iice proVed dangefOUs, perhaps beeause of atmosphOrio cOhdi-! tions, and as there are so many methods ! of heating water I don't think- people recognise tlie danger. • The makers h&ve recognised the dahger, aiid m&de a warning, but what I think BhoUld take place, and I -think the gaS Comphny Will do it, ' is that they should periodicaliy inspect all ealiphoiits. There was a grekter amount of monoxide. present on this occasion, and the uiifortuhate girl was the victim." A verdict in accordanee with the medical evidence was given.